Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Like Alan Bennett but less funny: ‘night, Mother at Hampstead Theatre reviewed

Plus: should the Barbican be staging a work that appears to advocate the murder of a named individual?

'night, Mother has an intensely dramatic set-up that ought to be gripping or hilarious, but in reality is neither: Stockard Channing and Rebecca Night. Photo: Marc Brenner 
issue 06 November 2021
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  • ’night, Mother

    Hampstead Theatre, until 4 December

  • PRIME_TIME

    The Pit, Barbican, until 6 November

’night, Mother is a two-hander that opens like a comedy sketch. ‘I’m going to kill myself, Mama,’ says Jessie. She’s cleaning a pistol and loading it with bullets. ‘I’ll shoot myself in a couple of hours.’ The pair live together in a lonely farmhouse, and Jessie wants to make sure her mother will be able to cope after her death.

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